Cultivist Art Trip to Marfa, the West Texas Art Oasis

04 Oct 2022

Driving 3 hours from El Paso to Marfa on the border-adjacent Texas highway was our introduction to the West Texas landscape during our final art trip of 2022.

The trip to Marfa, Texas, has become an annual fixture in our art trips calendar due to consistently enriching experiences in the high desert.

Prada Marfa made for a memorable first stop. The permanent sculptural art installation by artists Elmgreen and Dragset sits on the side of the highway about 30 minutes outside Marfa.

Cochineal was the next highly anticipated stop. An amazing six-course meal with locally sourced ingredients from their garden, regional farms and ranches set the bar for the trip's culinary experiences. James Beard award semifinalist and restaurant owner Alexandra Gates welcomed the group.

Marfa is home to the foundation of American artist Donald Judd. The Judd foundation preserves the living and working space of Judd, who started buying property in Marfa in 1973. For our Judd Foundation Tour, we started our morning at The Block (Judd's home), the Bank Building and Judd's largest studio.

"untitled (dawn to dusk)" by Robert Irwin
"untitled (dawn to dusk)" by Robert Irwin
"untitled (dawn to dusk)" by Robert Irwin
"untitled (dawn to dusk)" by Robert Irwin
"100 untitled works in mill aluminum" by Doland Judd
"100 untitled works in mill aluminum" by Doland Judd

Judd's presence in Marfa also extends to the Chinati Foundation, which he founded in 1986. The Chinati Foundation is a pinnacle of postwar American art, home to several large-scale architectural projects.

Our guided tour began just before sunrise inside Robert Irwin's largest work, the 2016 masterpiece, untitled (dawn to dusk). This monumental work of land art presents contrasting light and dark, indoor and outdoor elements across a divided building, its connecting corridor and a courtyard. Witnessing Irwin's creations first-hand was the most memorable moment of the trip for much of our group.

We then went to the artillery sheds where Donald Judd's 100 untitled works in mill aluminium gleamed in the morning light. Our group was left in awe of work from Dan Flavin, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, Roni Horn, John Chamberlain and more as we travelled from site to site of the multi-building, miles-long complex.

The Chinati tour ended with lunch at The Arena. The modern West Texas fare encapsulated the spirit of the setting surrounding us.

Art Production fund co-founder Yvonne Villareal, who commissioned Prada Marfa in collaboration with Ballroom Marfa, joined us for lunch and shared stories about the Elmgreen & Dragset artwork with the entranced listeners from our group.

Yvonne Villarreal continued to share with us over champagne and dessert at the historic Brite House, where the interior is to be redesigned by Fernando Santangelo.

Yvonne has recently started an artist residency program called Brite Force in the mansion. New York City-based artist Will Cotton was the inaugural artist and presented work around Brite House for the first Brite Force exhibiton.

The trip to Marfa was a massive success, and our 2023 Marfa trip has already been planned for this unique art destination.

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—Words by Gideon Fortune. Photo: Mick Haupt